Written by Moira Warburton and Leah Douglas
(Reuters) – Businessman Elon Musk, an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, said on Sunday that Republican Sen. He endorsed Scott for Senate Majority Leader.
Republicans are expected to win three Democratic-held seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana in last Tuesday’s elections, giving them at least 52 seats in the 100-member Senate. Current Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who has led the Senate since 2007, said he would step down from leadership after the election.
“Rick Scott for Senate Majority Leader!” Musk, a tech billionaire who has emerged as a major supporter of Trump in recent months, wrote in a social media post on Sunday.
Mr. Musk is the richest person in the world. Scott, who represents Florida in the Senate, is a former health care executive and the wealthiest sitting senator. Musk endorsed Trump on July 13, the day the former president was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
Scott said in a Fox News interview Sunday that the Senate needs to implement real change.
“We can’t keep doing what we’re doing,” Scott said. “That’s what Donald Trump was elected to do to bring about change.”
Mr. Trump campaigned on promises to deport immigrants living in the United States illegally, cut taxes, impose tariffs on international trading partners, and ease fiscal policy.
Scott has the backing of several far-right Republican senators, but the question remains whether he can win over moderate Republicans.
After senators are sworn into the new Congress, each party will vote on its leader in the Senate in January. Whoever controls the Republican leadership will succeed Democrat Chuck Schumer as majority leader.
Results for the two Senate races in Pennsylvania and Arizona have not yet been released by Edison Research. Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate David McCormick (NYSE:) told Fox News on Sunday that he wasn’t ready to endorse a specific candidate yet, but that the Republican Party would not include “gradualism” on its agenda. He said he couldn’t do it.
House control is still unclear
Control of the U.S. House of Representatives is still undecided. Edison said Republicans already have 213 seats, just shy of the 218 needed to maintain their current majority. If Republicans control both chambers, most of Mr. Trump’s agenda would have a much better chance of getting Congress’ approval than if Democrats controlled either chamber.
According to one report, partial results show Republicans narrowly leading in the remaining nine House races that have not yet been called, and Democrats leading in seven. new york times (NYSE:) Analysis shows thousands of votes still remain to be counted.
A House majority could give Republicans broad authority to push through their agenda, including tax cuts, border security controls and energy deregulation.
Most of the remaining House seats are in western states, which typically take longer to count votes than in other states in the country.
